The hype around any Mission: Impossible movie usually comes from the insane stunts Tom Cruise performs. Scaling the world’s tallest building, clinging to the side of an airplane more than 5,000 feet above the ground, holding his breath for nearly six minutes—Cruise has done all of that and much more during his 22-year, six-film tenure as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. The franchise’s latest installment, Fallout, continues to deliver on the big-screen spectacle.
The film finds Hunt and his team (series regulars Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames) recovering from a mission gone wrong that left plutonium cores in the hands of a terrorist organization. They’ve got a limited window to recover the nuclear materials and stop the titular cataclysm. Also in the mix are MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) and August Walker (Henry Cavill), a CIA operative tasked with keeping an eye on Hunt and ensuring recovery of the plutonium, both of whom have uncertain motives and allegiances.
Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie returns to helm the series following 2015’s Rogue Nation, making him the first director to tackle more than one entry. While it may have been fun to see someone new take a crack at Hunt and his team’s exploits, it’s also difficult to argue with results. McQuarrie taps into what makes the spy genre entertaining and delivers a story full of subterfuge and questionable loyalties bolstered by thrilling set pieces and beautifully choreographed action.
Should you see it? Yes, it’s an exciting ride that never loses momentum. — S.W.